All Posts Tagged With: "Community"

The Perennial Nursery Program is a project created by Civic Works and is located at 600 N Port Street, behind the Amazing Grace Church. Since 2001. "Its mission is to provide annual and perennial flowers, vegetable plants, shrubs and trees free of charge to community groups involved in urban greening initiatives." To date, over 35,000 plants have been distributed. Volunteers are always needed and appreciated! Contact Staff.

Founded in 1986, and the oldest urban outward bound program in the U.S., the Baltimore Outward Bound Center teaches kids how to be community leaders and learn important life skills from our natural environment, whether out in the wilderness or at the heart of an urban center. The programs focus on helping kids cultivate personal and community leadership skills through physical fitness, self-reliance, craftsmanship, and service.

Be The Bay specializes in products from and about the Chesapeake Bay, and they donate 10% of their profits towards bay restoration and education projects. The founders of Be The Bay have long hoped for a clean bay again where you could swim without worrying about bacteria levels and eat seafood without worrying about mercury levels. Be The Bay focuses on educating residents and tourists on how they can positively effect the bay. Their clothes and bay products can be found at numerous local retailers and their on-line store.

The Friends of Druid Hill Park work to "protect and maintain its magnificent woods and arbors, to preserve its historic monuments and buildings, and to reinvigorate the park as a central recreational, cultural and educational institution." Meetings are held monthly, where events like clean-up day and group gardening are coordinated. Contribute today and become a part of this thriving initiative.

Now on view in the courtyard of PS1 Contemporary Art Museum in Queens, NY is Public Farm 1. The winners of the ninth annual MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program were Amale Andraos and Dan Wood of WORK Architecture Company. The design is something PS1 has named "a flying carpet farmer’s market."

Viewing this piece myself I was reminded of James Wines’ SITE projects for the BEST stores done during the early 80’s, which questioned the role of architecture and ecology in a suburban setting. Although I would have loved to see Public Farm 1 in front of a Walmart this project focused more on the role of ecology and self-sufficency in an urban setting. To highlight this idea I was fortunate enough to see the garden with one of the biggest bank buildings in the U.S. as its backdrop. The courtyard also housed a number of live chickens, the roof of which collected rainwater and a solar PV system which powers fans, lights, your cell phone and that’s not all.

Baltimore Nia is an expressive, barefooted, dance/fitness practice with a wholesome focus on body, mind and spirit. Nia creates weight loss while providing the proper weight maintenance. This form of dance also improves muscle tone, calms the mind and relieves stress. Created by Carlos Rosas and Debbie Posas in 1983 Nia, is now brought you by Megan Charles Founder and instructor of Nia Baltimore. You can get involved through classes located at 3000 Chestnut Ave. on the first Sunday of every month, beginning in January.

The Neighborhood Design Center works throughout the Baltimore and Prince George’s County area helping residents, small non-profit organizations, and community development corporations do what they typically otherwise couldn’t: improve their communties. These communities many times are seeking to improve blocks and homes, renovate parks and school grounds, reclaim abandoned structures for new community uses, improve neighborhood commercial districts, etc., but simply lack the means. The Neighborhood Design Center helps by offering multiple free services: conceptual building and site plans, preliminary feasability studies and cost estimates, neighborhood master plans, and community development guidance. As the center itself is a non-profit, it does all this by mobilizing volunteer architects, planners, landscape architects, engineers, and other design professionals who donate their professional services to help neighborhoods in their initial revitalization efforts. Through their work the center hopes to strengthen community participation in neighborhood improvement efforts, educate the public about the value of good design, and serve as a catalyst for increased investment in neighborhood development.